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GREAT RUSSIA

i PEASANT COSTUME FROM ARCHANGEL

r"
i

Studio, Special nomW1- \3ifc'.

PEASANT ART
IN RUSSIA

EDITED BY
CHARLES HOLME

MCMXII

4 THE STUDIO' LTD.

LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK

PREFATORY NOTE

The Editor desires to express his indebtedness to Princess Alexandre
Sidamon-Eristoff and Mile. N. de Chabelskoy for the valuable
assistance they have rendered him in the preparation of this volume
by placing at his disposal their remarkable collection of Russian
Peasant Art. Most of the illustrations which accompany the article
on Great Russia are from this source, including the unique and
beautiful series of peasant costumes. The Editor also tenders his
thanks to Count Alexis Bobrinsky, who has supplied the other
illustrations which appear in the section devoted to Great Russia,
mostly those of articles in wood. Amongst others who have
given valuable help should be mentioned M. Paul Ettinger,
M. N. Bilachevsky, Director of the Nicolas II Museum at Kieff,
M. Basile Kritchevsky, M. S. Wasilkovsky, M. Gruchevsky,
M. P. Dorochenko, the Polskie Towarzystwo Krajoznawcze (the
Polish Society for the Investigation of the Country), Mme. Al.
Janowski, M. Wisznieki, Mme. Maryan Wawrzeniecki, M. E.
Trojanowski, M. Michael Brensztejn, and the authorities of the
various museums who have kindly allowed examples of Russian
Peasant Art under their charge to be reproduced here.

ARTICLES

PAGE

THE PEASANT ART OF GREAT RUSSIA. By PRINCESS ALEXANDRE

SIDAMON-ERISTOFF and MLLE. N. DE CHABELSKOY ... ... 3

THE PEASANT ART OF LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE). By

N. BILACHEVSK.Y ... ... ... ... ... ... 15

THE PEASANT ART OF RUSSIAN POLAND. By MARYAN WAWRZENIECKI 35

THE PEASANT ART OF LITHUANIA. By MICHAEL BRENSZTEJN ... 47

ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR

GREAT RUSSIA

NOS

Peasant Costume from Archangel ... ... ... ... ... i

„ „ „ Novgorod ... 22

» » » Tula ... 39

„ „ „ Vladimir 44

Casket in Carved Walrus Ivory, from Archangel ... ... ... 177

Woman's Head-dress ornamented with Pearls and Precious Stones,

from Kostroma ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 178

Embroidered Bag ornamented with Pearls ... ... ... ... 179

Embroidered Pincushion ... ... ... ... ... ... 180

Painted Front of a Stall, from a Church in Perm ... ... ... 29IA

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

Designs for Silk Embroidery ... ... ... ... 338-340

Hand-woven Material used for Skirts ... ... ... 37°-372

Group of Pottery from Poltava ... ... ... ... ... 409

Earthenware Plates and Bottle ... ... ... ... 444-446

Painted Wooden Plates ... ... ... ... ... 447-449

Church with Nine Cupolas ... ... ... ... ... ... 465

Interior of a Peasant's House in Poltava ... ... ... ... 474

ILLUSTRATIONS IN MONOTONE

GREAT RUSSIA

PEASANT COSTUMES FROM

Archangel

Kaluga

Kazan

Kostroma

Kursk

Moscow

Nij ni-Novgorod

Novgorod

Olonetz

Orel

Penza

Pskoff

Riazan

Smolensk

Tamboff

Tula

Tver

Vologda

Yaroslavl

NOS

••• 2,3

••• 4,5
6

... 7-9

IO-I2

Hi IS
16-19

2O, 21

23, 24
25, 26
27,28
... 29
30-34

••• 35
... 13

36-38

40-43

... 45

46-48

NOS

LACE, EMBROIDERY, ETC.
Bedcurtain Borders from

Kostroma... ... ... 65

Moscow 55, 56, 58, 66, 67, 75
Nij ni-Novgorod 52, 54, 57, 60

68, 74> 77
St. Petersburg 50, 51, 62, 78

Tver 69, 84

Vologda ... ... ... 49

Yaroslavl 6 1, 64, 70

Bedcurtain Trimmings from

Olonetz 8 1, 82

Orel 53

St. Petersburg ... ... 71

Yaroslavl ... 59, 72

Chasubles

Collars

Cross in Gold and Silk

Curtain from Tver ...

Dolls, Ancient

Eucharistic Cloths .

85, ^3
96-99

... 108

... 63

114-116

IIO, III

Hair Ornaments (" Kosnik ")

100-103
Hand-printed Linen ("Naboika")

94,95
Head-dresses ... 104—107

Icon Panel ... ... 109, 112

Towel- Borders from

Kaluga ... 80, 83, 86-93

Nij ni-Novgorod ... 73, 76

Novgorod ... 86—93

St. Petersburg ... 79, 86-93

METAL-WORK AND JEWELLERY

Bowls, silver ... 137, 141

Candlesticks, copper 138—140

Caskets, iron ... 173—175

Chain, silver ... ... 123

Combs ... ... 132-135

Crosses, silver and copper

117, 119, 122, 124
Earrings 118, 121, 125-130

Goblets ... ... ... 152

Inkstands 131, 136, 151, 155

Jug ... 152

Padlocks, iron and copper

142-150
Pendant, silver ... ... 123

Smoothing - irons, copper

Triptych, copper and enamel 1 20
POTTERY

Dish ... ... ... 1 60

Jugs ... ... 161-163

Tiles ... ... 156-159

CARVED IVORY

Caskets in Walrus Ivory

164, 1 66, 169-172, 176
Reading-pointers 228-235

FURNITURE AND WOODCARVING

Arm-chairs ... ... 293, 294

Bed-boards ... ... 274, 275

Benches 281-284

vii

NOS

FURNITURE AND WOODCARVING

(cant.)
Bowls
Box
Brakes
Cake-moulds
Candlesticks
Caskets
Chairs
Cornices
Crosses

253

165

... 258,259
244-250
219-222
167, 168
... 296, 297
266-273

122, 251, 254, 255
295, 299
181-187
196-218

Egg-dish 239

Frame ... ... 252, 279

Laundry Beetles ("Valki ")

188-195, 196-202, 240, 243

Cupboards

Distaffs ("Pralki")...

Looms

Mug

Panel

Pew, church

Plaque

Reading-desks

Salt-boxes

Scoops

Sledges

300, 302, 303

256

... 260

289

... 223
287, 288
folding ("Analoi")

261, 265

. 225, 257, 262-264

. 236-238,241, 242

276-278

NOS

FURNITURE AND WOODCARVING

(cant.)

Spoons ... 224, 226, 227

Tables ... 280, 285, 290, 292

„ "candle" 286, 291, 301

Window frame and shutters 298

CHURCHES, HOUSES, ETC.

Belfries in North Russia

317,318

Cemetery in Archangel ... 319
Churches in North Russia

315, 3i6

Churches in Olonetz ... 314

Convent Chapel in Arch-
angel ... ... ... 311

Granary in North Russia
Houses in North Russia
Houses in Olonetz
Houses in Vologda ...
Interior of Church

• 309

• 3°8

304, 3°7
... 306

Archangel
Interior of

Vologda .
Stairway to

Archangel
Stairway to

Olonetz "•
Windmill in North Russia

Church
.
House

House

312

313
310

305
320

VIII

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

PEASANT COSTUMES AND SCENES
OF PEASANT LIFI

Peasant Family from Kieff
Preparing the Hemp in Kieff

323,

Harvesting in Volhynia
Group of Peasants from

"Kieff

Peasant Girl Cleaning Fish
An Alfresco Meal in Kieff
Peasant Girls from Kieff...
Peasant's Summer Costume

from Volhynia
Peasant Costumes from Kieff

NOS

322

330
324

325
326

327
328

329

Peasant Girl
Ukraine

331,332,334-337
from South

333

EMBROIDERY AND TEXTILES
Blouses, Women's Em-
broidered 341-344

Blouses, Embroidery for 353-359
Tapestries, Woollen

360-369, 373-378
lowels, Embroidered 345-352

MUSEUM INTERIORS
Kieff, Volkskunst Museum at

379-384
Poltava> ,, „ 385

METAL-WORK AND JEWELLERY

Church-crosses, iron 386-389

Pendants, silver ... 390-397

POTTERY AND GLASSWARE

Bottles, glass 404,

Bowls, earthenware
Flasks, „
Jars, „

Jugs, glass 399-403,
Jugs, earthenware
Miscellaneous glassware
Plates, earthenware

Stove-tiles, „
Tumbler, glass

410,

NOS

405, 408
421, 422
419, 420
417,418

406, 407

429, 434

... 408

411-416

423-428

430-433
... 398

FURNITURE AND WOODCARVING

Bowl, wooden
Carriages, parts of
Coffer, wooden
Dish, wooden
Gingerbread-moulds,

Jug, wooden

Scoops, wooden

Sledge

Sledge, parts of

Spoon, wooden

Table (i8th century)

PEASANTS' HOUSES IN
Kieff, South Ukraine

439

462, 466-471

... 442
... 441
wooden

450-461
... 443

435-437, 440

... 464

466-471

... 438

... 463

... 472
j, „ „ (interiors)

475, 476
Siedlce, N.W. Ukraine ... 473

RUSSIAN POLAND

NOS

COSTUMES FROM

Kielce

Lowicz

POTTERY

Bowls, earthenware

Jars, „

Jugs,

Plates, „

Pot,

FURNITURE

Chairs from Kujavia
Chest from Lowicz
Dressers from Kujavia

PEASANTS' HOUSES, ETC.

Church at Smarzewice
Cross at Strugiennice
House at Kujavia

478, 480
... 479

481, 482
... 481
... 481

481, 482
... 481

484-486

... 483

487, 488

... 497
... 503
... 496

NOS

PEASANTS' HOUSES, ETC. (co«/.)

House at Lowicz 493, 498

„ „ „ (interiors)

500, 501
„ „ Modrzejow

(entrance) 491

„ „ Urzedow 492, 499

„ „ Wojkowice

(entrance) 490

Mill at Piotrkow ... 489

Painted Houses ... 494, 495
Well at Lowicz ... ... 502

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES

Bridal Crowns ... ... 506

Crowns worn at " Harvest

Home"
Cut Paper Designs 321

"Spider" from Lowicz
Wooden Toy

507

477
508-517

505
504

LITHUANIA

COSTUMES, ETC.

Band of Coral Beads, from

Suwalki ... ... ... 523

Dresses from Lower Lithuania

518, 520-522

Embroidery ... 524, 525

Head-dress (" Namitka ") from
Kovno ... ... ... 519

WoODCARVING AND PoTTERY

Box-lids, carved ... 549, 550
Crosses from Kovno, carved

542-545

NOS

WOODCARVING AND POTTERY

Figures, carved ... 539,541

Jar ............ 547

Jug ... ... 548

Musical Instrument, carved

("Kanles") ...... 546

Panel, carved ... ... 540

Spinning-board and Needle,

carved ... ... ... 538

Spindles, carved 526-535, 537
Towel - rail, carved

(" Abrusienicze ") ... 536

CUT PAPER DESIGN

GREAT RUSSIA

THE PEASANT ART OF GREAT
RUSSIA. BY PRINCESS ALEXANDRE SIDAMON-
ERISTOFF AND MLLE. N. DE CHABELSKOY.

RUSSIA is an immense territory, parts of it unknown even in
our own day, embracing every kind of climate and many
latitudes. The country is inhabited by people of different
origins, amongst whom the Slavs predominate, and whose
manners and customs are of the greatest antiquity.
Situated on this vast plain are splendid cities ; but, though
sometimes monotonous, it has delightful scenery, immense forests
and lofty mountains, rich in precious stones and all kinds of minerals.
Such is the country which stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the
Caspian Sea, with the Crimea and the Caucasus Mountains in the
south, vast Siberia on the Asiatic boundary, and Great Russia,
White Russia, and Little Russia (the Ukraine) in the centre.

Glancing back over the manners and style of living of the
Russian people, one recognises that from most remote times they
loved to decorate all objects among which their lives were passed ;
beginning with the Church, the house, vehicles, sledges, boats,
clothes, even down to the smallest household bowl. In this
decoration their artistic tastes — at times nai've — their religious feelings,
and their deep imagination are expressed.

The long-drawn-out winter, when the peasant is obliged to
cease from work in the fields, helps to develop these tastes still more.
During the long evenings the family meets by the stove, each one
engaged in making some object either for the house or for sale. At
the time when factories did not exist, and even later when the
number of them was insufficient for so large a country, the difficulty
of communication, caused by the long distances and the poor roads,
contributed largely to each district producing for itself most ot the
necessary objects. For the same reason these objects were stamped
with a character and originality peculiarly local. Some few places
specialised, indeed, according to the natural characteristics of the
district. Thus the northern provinces, so rich in forests, produced
all kinds of articles in wood, among other things plates, carved and
painted. In the villages situated beside rivers or lakes, boats and all
the necessary appliances for fishing were made. The Government of
Riazan was noted for its pottery, its clay vessels, and its enamelled
bricks, the latter being used in the decoration of churches and other
buildings and for stoves. The Government of Vladimir possessed
craftsmen skilled in metal-work and enamelling, as well as engravers
and painters who produced popular pictures, illustrated books and
b-2. 3

GREAT RUSSIA

manuscripts, and fashioned icons (holy images). The Government
of Tula was renowned for its arms of tempered and embossed steel,
jewellery, and all kinds of articles in metal. The Government of
Yaroslavl, so rich in flax, furnished many different textiles, from the
simple household cloth to that of the finest quality. The Govern-
ment of Archangel has always carried on a large trade in furs, and
been famous for its boat-building ; also for clever workmanship in
walrus ivory.

The wool of domestic animals is used everywhere to make
clothing materials, as well as a kind of thick felt for winter shoes.
The technical knowledge has been transmitted by one generation to
another, and by the custom of the family working together. So
that every peasant is not only a cultivator of the soil, but also a
craftsman.

Besides the various necessary domestic articles, the Russian
women excel in the making of lace, and, above all, in embroidery,
which plays a great part in the life of the people. The largest
number of designs and the most important characteristic motifs are
found in the embroidery, and these especially help in the study of the
national art. It is in a great measure due to the ingenious work of
the Russian women that this art is preserved to our time.

Russian decorative art dates from very early ages. In spite of
the successive influences of contact with Asia, with Byzantium, and
with the West, modified by the requirements of native customs, it
yet retains its national character and diversity of form, and has had
the advantage at all times of exponents possessing great skill and
ability. If amongst the mass of designs a certain number are found
to proceed from individual inventiveness and imagination, yet the
greater part have a particular or emblematic significance, which
although dimmed and lost with the passage of time, yet preserves the
traditional forms. Besides numerous geometrical patterns and con-
ventional floral motifs, these designs represent sacred and decorative
trees, fantastical flowers, symbolic animals such as lions, unicorns,
horses, stags, birds, &c., often facing one another, and having
between them a tree or a sacred vase. Many examples represent
people with raised arms and outstretched hands, signifying
the gesture of religious adoration, habitual to heathen as well
as to Christian people ; sometimes complete compositions, such as
religious processions, scenes of sacrifices, of temples, and of idols, are
depicted.

Among the most general subjects are the fabulous birds called
Sirin and n^f/conost, who assume woman's form, and who, according
to the legend, live in Paradise and delight the saints with their songs.

GREAT RUSSIA

One of the symbolic signs very much in favour was the svastika,
known in the most remote period of ancient India, a sign of good
augury and especially of good luck. It was freely employed in the
decoration of all kinds of articles.

Later on the Czar Peter the Great, with his reforms, had a
marked influence on design, and the subjects became more realistic.
Attempts were made to represent whole landscapes, with palaces,
festivals, and people in the costume of the time, as we see in the
accompanying illustration (No. 78), which depicts a firework
display at a fete.

The conditions of family life, which dedicated woman entirely
to the home, not allowing her to take part in social affairs, con-
tributed still more to interest her in handicraft. In pagan times the
personality of the woman was held to be equal to that of the man.
She had not only her rights in the family life, but she possessed also
her social rights. She had control of her property, and she joined
in the chase just as a warrior took part in battle. All was changed
with the advent of Christianity. The literature and ideas of
Byzantium had more effect on the women than on the men, and
consequently on home life. The ascetic teachings of Byzantium, based
on the complete perversity of Byzantine society, were transported
with the religion into Russia, when the social life was still young
and scarcely formed, and served as a base for a monastic life, as well
as for the ideas of seclusion and retirement from social intercourse.
Thus were created the austere conditions of the life of the terem, a
part of the house reserved for women and exclusively for family life.
This retired existence became more and more strict in proportion to
the social position. Except for a few very simple pleasures, which
enlivened the monotony, needlework was the favourite occupation
as well as amusement. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
in the houses of the noblemen and the Czars, one or more rooms were
always reserved near the terem for needlework, thus forming ateliers
where the women in the service of the family worked under the
direction of the mistress of the house.

The mass of the people came less strongly under the influence
of these teachings, and, while they accepted Christianity, they still
retained the advantages of pagan rule, which explains the presence
in the ornamentations of the many subjects which bear traces of the
earlier belief.

Among the numerous embroidered articles it is on the borders
of the bedcurtains and towels especially that the most interesting and
characteristic designs are to be found. The bedcurtains were used to
decorate the bed and the bedstead as well as the backs of the sledges

GREAT RUSSIA

and wedding conveyances, or on the occasions of the traditional
carnival processions, and in this case the decoration was completed
by towels attached to the dougas (bow of the shaft).

Towels, in addition to their customary use, served from the
earliest times as adjuncts to religious worship, when they were
employed to decorate the temples of the idols, or were hung from
the sacred trees as votive offerings. We still see, as a relic of the
same custom, images and crosses thus decorated, and the people bring
their towels as offerings to the church. At the present time towels are
used also to decorate the izba (peasant homes), for draping mirrors
and images ; or, spread out along the walls, they form a kind of
simple art gallery for the Russian peasant.

Unfortunately all these practices are dying out more and
more every year, in proportion to the increase in the number of
factories, the products of which are causing the hand-made articles
to quickly disappear, making them dearer and more difficult to
obtain.

Thanks to museums and private collections, which have been
established just in time, a great number of the most varied articles
belonging to the household have been preserved, and they throw a
light on life in past centuries and reflect the qualities peculiar to
Slavo-Russian art.* However, even now there still exist in the vast
districts of Great Russia many out-of-the-world spots, especially
towards the north, far from the railways. In the heart of these huge
forests, and away from all contact with civilisation, the life still
retains its primitive and local character, and continues in accordance
with the rites and traditions of the past. Here the peasant has not
yet abandoned his picturesque costume, and in his typical i-zba a
corresponding interior is to be found. Here, too, may still be seen
the old churches of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with their
many cupolas, still preserving the old images adorned with silk and
gold work, or painted by a master hand, and covered with splendid
chasubles embellished with precious stones and real pearls. The
sacristies of these churches often contain real treasures of art and
archaeology among the priestly vestments.

In these places the people still use in their daily life many
original articles which, although of more recent execution, are made

* Many governments and towns now have museums containing antiquities of the
particular district. There is the Alexander III. Museum at St. Petersburg ; the Imperial
Historical Museum at Moscow, to which has been added the Schoukine Museum ;
while the Stroganoff Arts and Industries School contains real national treasures.
Moreover, there are numerous private collections, the most striking of which is that of
the Princess Sidamon-Eristoffand Mile, de Chabelskoy, from which most of the illustrations
to this article have been taken.

GREAT RUSSIA

in accordance with the old traditional forms. The Russian people
are carpenters by instinct ; every peasant is accordingly able to build
his izba, which for centuries has always been constructed in the same
way, occasionally of brick, but generally of large, rounded beams,
thanks to the proximity of the forest. These izbas, with their slight
roofing, have for exterior decoration carved wooden cornices ; the
chief beam which supports the roof often ends in the form of a rose,
a horse's head, or a conventional bird. All these decorative portions
are usually painted in various colours, which give a bright appearance
to the cottages.

The simple furniture consists of seats, either fixed or movable, a
few tables, a sideboard for the display of plates and dishes, and some
chests embellished with metal-work or painting. The peasants delight
to decorate the under sides of the lids of these coffers with popular
engravings. A great oven in stone is built in such a way that
one part forms a large flat surface on which the whole family
sleep in the depth of winter. In the right-hand corner of the wall,
called the krasningol (the beautiful corner), are placed one or more holy
images or icons before which wax tapers or little oil lamps burn,
forming a family altar. Sometimes there are a few engravings either of
religious subjects or representing popular heroes, a loom for weaving,
and a few household utensils. This is the usual simple appearance
of the generality of the houses, with a barn or stable, and a little
enclosure round. For fear of fire the houses are placed a good
distance apart from each other, but are grouped in large villages
with a wide road running through the centre.

Old customs are kept up in their entirety in many of the villages,
and religious and civil ceremonies are still carried out according
to the ancestral traditions, sometimes so full of meaning and
simple poetry. The people still retain the many observances
in all the important events of family life — birth, marriage, and
burial — as well as the different customs incidental to Christmas,
Easter, &c.

But especially are ancient ceremonies adhered to on the occasion
of weddings, such as the use of the great loaf, a kind of decorated,
and sometimes gilded cake, a symbol of prosperity, as well as many
gifts which the maiden is obliged to offer to her fiance, and to all the
relatives and guests according to the degree of relationship or to their
social position. Tradition exacts that all these presents should be
the actual work of the bride, as a proof of her ability and industry.
This is why provident young girls prepare their presents a long
time in advance. For this purpose the young maidens in every
village meet together at one another's houses in turn to work ; these

GREAT RUSSIA

little gatherings, much resorted to by the young people, end with
songs, games, and dances.

The wedding presents consist chiefly of towels with wide
borders, with a woven or embroidered design, and chirinkas (a kind
of pocket-handkerchief made from a square piece of material em-
broidered handsomely either at the corners or all round).

The custom of giving wedding presents was very widespread in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, not only among the peasants,
who still preserve it, but also among the noblemen and even the
Czars, only in this case the chirinkas were more handsome, being of
silk or muslin, richly embroidered in gold, and decorated with fringes
and tassels. Sometimes, instead of embroidery, they were embellished
with wide gold lace, interwoven with real pearls. The chirinka was
both an object for display and one of the indispensable adjuncts of the
Russian woman's wardrobe, the most obvious and the favourite
article ; and it was, moreover, the custom always to hold it in the
hand when going to church, or on visits, or during all ceremonies.

The national costume varied greatly in different governments,
nearly every district and village having its special dress. The women
particularly displayed their clothes, and whether they were hand-
somely decorated or made in the simplest manner they were always
covered with a profusion of embroidery. The indoor dress consisted
chiefly of the paneva, a skirt of thick check woollen material, and
the sarafan, a kind of skirt with or without a bodice, pleated or
gathered and buttoned in front, but always sleeveless. That is why
in their lingerie the women included short bodices with sleeves of a
different colour to the sarafan, very much decorated, and forming one
of the principal articles of the wardrobe. The peasants generally
made these in white linen with an embroidered neckband, as well as
with wide embroidered trimmings on the shoulders, or in linen printed
by hand. When means allowed, the sleeves were made of silk,
brocade, or velvet, and were sometimes covered with heavy gold
embroidery. Different in shape, these sleeves were of very fine
material, sometimes four or five metres long, and were then worn
gathered up on the arm. The women often wore wide aprons, with
or without sleeves, and generally of linen, sometimes entirely covered
with embroidery.

But it was on the head-dress — the kokochniks, the kikas, the
povoiniks, the crowns and the diadems — that most thought was
bestowed, and this was distinguished by the greatest abundance of
embroidered designs. These head-dresses were extravagant, even
amongst the peasants, and were made in cloth-of-gold, in damask, in
velvet embroidered with gold, and sometimes ornamented with real

GREAT RUSSIA

pearls and precious stones. Those of the young girls, in the form
of a crown or a diadem, were worn so as to show the hair. This
was considered as a beauty and a right belonging exclusively to the
maidens, whilst married women were obliged to hide their hair
under the head-dress. A married woman who wore her hair
uncovered was considered to be lacking in modesty. Native pearls
were generally much sought after in Russia, both Eastern and fresh-
water pearls being found in the great rivers and lakes in the North.
Mother-of-pearl, either carved or rounded, was also popular, and in
some villages pearls were used with coloured glass.

For out-of-door garments the women wore fur capes in the
winter, and in the summer short coats, or capes without fur, made
of plain cloth, damask, or cloth-of-gold. Over the head-dress were
worn long and wide veils (fatas) of white muslin, interwoven with
silk floral designs or embroidered in gold, which fell partly over
the face. Sometimes they were made in heavy silken material,
embroidered in gold and ornamented with lace and gold fringe. In
some villages they were made of linen, embroidered at the edges,
just like the towels, but distinguished from them by the embroidery
on the forehead.

Amongst the wearing apparel of daily use, mention should again
be made of the little coats, embroidered in gold or made in rich
materials, the head-shawls, often embroidered, and the slippers and
gloves, as well as the waistbands woven in silk or embroidered with
gold. In many districts waistbelts, woven by hand in wool of varied
colours, were worn, in the fringes of which were fastened chicken
bones. Young girls put these belts under their pillows, and at the
first cock-crow the bone began, they declared, to twitter like
swallows, thus warning the sleepers that it was time to begin work.

Small articles of dress, such as chains of filigree work with
crosses, which were worn as an ornament round the neck, all kinds
of collars, rings, earrings, in gold or silver, or sometimes made of
real pearls threaded on hair and arranged in different ways by the
women themselves, all these things were quaint and much prized.

The men's costumes, duller and more uniform, consisted, among
the peasants, of caftans of different kinds and of quiet colours, and of
capes of fur or of sheepskins, made in such a way that the fur was
on the inside and the skin on the outside. In the house they wore
trousers of linen, printed by hand, or of homespun cloth ; shirts,
either coloured or of white linen, embroidered at the edge as well
as on the collar and sleeves ; tall felt hats or round fur bonnets and
caps. For footgear, in addition to boots of leather and felt, the
usual article was the lapot, a kind of shoe made from the inner bark

GREAT RUSSIA

of the birch and lime trees, cut into thongs, and which each man
cut for himself. This kind of bast-work was used to make a large
variety of baskets, salt-cellars and other small articles, as well as
large pans in which to keep flour and bread. Milk-pans and
earthenware vessels were covered with strips of bark, and by placing
these strips very close together the vessels were made almost
unbreakable.

Amongst the materials made in the homes must be mentioned
figured and dyed cloths, as well as the " naboika " cloth, hand-
printed by means of small wood-blocks with designs cut in relief,
which were coated over with vegetable colours, very fast and
blending harmoniously (Nos. 94 and 95). The cloths are of great
interest owing to the designs being very old, for the " naboika " was
known in Russia as early as the twelfth century. It was used not
only for clothes, but also for religious garments, flags, pavilion curtains,
table-covers, and even for bookbindings. The first to use it were
probably the painters of the icons, as being the most expert in
the mixing of colours and in ornamentation ; but later on it was
employed by craftsmen who went from village to village. The
designs on these cloths, in addition to the subjects and decorations
already mentioned, reproduced the motifs employed in the more
handsome materials, in the decorations of books, and in popular
engravings. But all the subjects were adapted to suit the demands
of the district, giving them the special characteristics of the pro-
ductions of the Russian people. It is because of the national spirit
embodied in these designs carved in the wood (sometimes faced in
metal) that these blocks for printing cloth are so much appreciated
by archaeologists, as also are the carved wooden moulds for ginger-
bread, which are also worthy of study.

Gingerbread was largely used in the sixteenth and seventeenth,
and even the eighteenth centuries, not only as a national article of
food, but also as a much appreciated gift. According to the
meaning and subject of the design, it was offered at birth, wedding,
and even at funeral feasts. There were also gingerbreads " of
honour," which, made to order and of exceptional size, were
sometimes more than a yard wide, and weighed as much as
150 Ibs. They were offered as a welcome, a gift of honour, by
workmen to their patrons, by the young to the old as a sign of
humility and respect. Thus, on the occasion of the birth of the
Czar Peter the Great, many huge gingerbreads of different designs
were presented to his father, amongst them one bearing the arms
of the city of Moscow ; two others, each weighing 100 Ibs., with
enormous double-headed eagles ; one in the form of a badge,

GREAT RUSSIA

weighing 125 Ibs.; and others in the shape 01 a duck, a parrot, or
a dove ; and great decorative gingerbreads representing the Kremlin,
with its turrets, surrounded by horse-soldiers, and so forth.
Altogether there were offered to him on this occasion more than
one-hundred-and-twenty gingerbreads and other sweet dishes. This
same custom was also very widespread among the nobles and among
the peasants.

All the illustrations which accompany this article are well
worthy ot more serious study than the space available here allows,
but we have endeavoured to give a general idea of the national
art of Russia and the character of the country. The original form
and the beauty of Russian decoration have, indeed, attracted atten-
tion and interest all over Europe, and at the same time there has
become manifest in Russia a very strong desire to revive the national
art, so long abandoned and kept in subjection by Western imitation.
The last fifteen or twenty years have seen a new activity spring
up, the object of which is to revive the old rural industries in the
villages where the peasants still preserve the ideas and methods ot
the old craftsmen, and there is growing up from this movement
a new branch of industry which is becoming more important year
by year.

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55 AND 56 BORDERS OF BEDCURTAINS, FROM MOSCOW

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6l BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM YAROSLAVL

62 DRAWN-THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM ST. PETERSBURG

63 CURTAIN IN DRAWN-THREAD ON SILK, FROM TVER

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64 DRAWN-THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM YAROSLAVL

65 LACE BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM KOSTROMA

66 BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM MOSCOW

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67 BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM MOSCOW

68 DRAWN THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN IN COLOURED SILKS, FROM NIJNI-NOVGOROD

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69 EMBROIDERED SILK AND LACE BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM TVER

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70 DRAWN-THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM YAROSLAVL

DRAWN-THREAD TRIMMING OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM ST. PETERSBURG

72 DRAWN-THREAD TRIMMING OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM YAROSLAVL

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73 LACE BORDER OF TOWEL, FROM NI] NI -NOVGOROD

74 DRAWN-THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM NIJNI-NOVGOROD

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76 LACE BORDER OF TOWEL, FROM NIJ NI-NOVGOROD

77 DRAWN-THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM NIJ NI-NOVGOROD

78 DRAWN-THREAD BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM ST. PETERSBURG

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79 BORDER OF TOWEL EMBROIDERED ON
LINEN, FROM ST. PETERSBURG

8O BORDER OF TOWEL EMBROIDERED ON
LINEN, FROM KALUGA

8l TRIMMING OF BEDCURTAIN EMBROIDERED ON LINEN, FROM OLONETZ

82 TRIMMING OF BEDCURTAIN EMBROIDERED ON LINEN, FROM OLONETZ

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83 BORDER OF TOWEL EMBROIDERED ON LINEN, FROM KALUGA

84 EMBROIDERED BORDER OF BEDCURTAIN, FROM TVER

85 TRIMMING OF CHASUBLE EMBROIDERED ON LINEN

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86 TO 93 BORDERS OF TOWELS EMBROIDERED ON LINEN, FROM KALUGA, NOVGOROD, AND ST. PETERSBURG

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100 TO 103 HAIR ORNAMENTS ("KOSNIK")
WORN BY YOUNG GIRLS

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104 TO 107 HEAD-DRESSES WORN BY WOMEN FROM
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108 AND 109 CROSS EMBROIDERED IN GOLD AND SILK
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IIO EUCHARISTIC CLOTH EMBROIDERED IN GOLD
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2O3 TO 2l8 CARVED WOODEN DISTAFFS ("PRALKl")

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219 TO 221 CARVED AND PAINTED WOODEN CANDLESTICKS

222 AND 223 CARVED AND PAINTED WOODEN CANDLESTICK AND PLAQUE

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225 PAINTED WOODEN SALT-BOX

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227 CARVED WOODEN SPOON

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236 CARVED WOODEN SCOOP

237 CARVED WOODEN SCOOP

238 CARVED WOODEN SCOOP

239 CARVED WOODEN EGG-DISH

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243 CARVED WOODEN
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244 TO 250 CARVED WOODEN CAKE-MOULDS

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278 CARVED WOODEN SLEDGE FROM VOLOGDA

279 AND 280 CARVED AND PAINTED WOODEN FRAME AND CARVED TABLE, FROM YAROSLAVL

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28l CARVED BENCH

282 TO 284 CARVED BENCHES

285 CARVED TABLE

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286 CARVED "CANDLE" TABLE

287 CARVED READING-DESK
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288 CARVED READING-DESK
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289 CARVED BACK OF A CHURCH PEW FROM VOLOGDA

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290 CARVED TABLE FROM YAROSLAVL

291 CARVED "CANDLE" TABLE FROM YAROSLAVL

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2 9 i A PAINTED FRONT OF A
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2()2 CARVED^TABLE

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295 CARVED CUPBOARD

296 AND 297 CARVED CHAIRS

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306 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN VOLOGDA

307 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN OLONETZ

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308 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN NORTH RUSSIA

309 GRANARY IN NORTH RUSSIA

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310 ENTRANCE STAIRWAY TO A PEASANT'S HOUSE IN ARCHANGEL

311 CORNER OF A CONVENT CHAPEL IN ARCHANGEL

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312 INTERIOR OF A VILLAGE CHURCH IN ARCHANGEL

313 INTERIOR OF A VILLAGE CHURCH IN VOLOGDA

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314 CHURCH IN OLONETZ (DATE I/l8)

315 VILLAGE CHURCH IN NORTH RUSSIA

316 CHURCH IN NORTH RUSSIA

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-v

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE
UKRAINE)

THE PEASANT ART OF LITTLE RUSSIA
(THE UKRAINE). BY N. BILACHEVSKY.

SOME twenty or thirty years ago the whole of the large
territory of the Ukraine, every corner ot it, was still rich in
peasant art ; indeed it may be truly said the Ukrainians were
an artistic race. The distinction between the lower and the
upper classes, so characteristic a feature of the feudal system then
in existence in the Ukraine, had as its result the preservation by the
peasantry of the peculiar ancient customs, beliefs, and modes of life.

Highly gifted and with a strong leaning towards beauty, the
Ukrainians tried to respond to this disposition in their own way,
without, at the same time, overstepping the boundaries of peasant
life, which was the life of ninety-five per cent, of the population.
They possessed a rich stock of artistic forms of expression, the result
of the work of centuries, and this was a valuable asset to their fine
assthetic sense. In this way, while the upper classes -of the "Little
Russian " community, forgetting whatever they possessed of their
own in the province of applied art, lived in surroundings borrowed
from the West, the peasant folk clung to their own national art.

However, from the second half of the nineteenth century, when
the feudal system was abolished, a change came over the social and
especially the economic conditions of the country, and the old
traditions of peasant life began to give way. This process was
reflected in the peasant art, as it was in everything else. The demand
for objects of adornment began to be satisfied now, not with the
creations of the peasants' own artistic fancy, as was the case hitherto,
but with factory-made articles which were quickly adapted to the
roughly formulated requirements of the peasant.

The decline of taste and the flooding of the villages with
factory-made goods gradually caused at first a change for the worse
in the productions of the people's art, and then the total
disappearance of that art.

This process is not, however, yet completed, and the life of the
Ukrainian peasant is still preserving much of what is very individual,
highly artistic, and strongly characteristic of the spiritual personality
of the Ukrainian race. There are still many possibilities for the
study of this art, and for making observations on it as on a living
thing and one necessary in household life.

Apart from being highly interesting as a branch of the world's
art, the artistic productions of the Ukrainian peasant present a
special attraction for the student, as the only surviving remnant of
the whole national Ukrainian art which flourished vigorously in
former times in all classes of the "Little Russian" community.

02 15

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

There are still to be found many examples of this ancient period or
Ukrainian art, which prove the high level that was reached by it.

The history of the Ukraine makes sad reading ; it is full of
records of an unequal struggle for preserving the national indi-
viduality of its civilisation and religion against the pressure of
enemies on all sides. The geographical position of the country made
it a buffer-state between Europe and the nomad tribes ; while this
was the source of weakness of the Ukraine, its neighbours, Poland
and Muscovy, considered it a " bone of contention." One after the
other, in succession, they became her masters ; they intrigued to
prevent the country from becoming settled, and they denied it the
advantages of peace, in order to keep it weak. Such a state ol
affairs could not but be reflected on the national art of the people.
The conditions under which art could flourish were wanting, and in
spite of other favouring circumstances — the natural gifts of the
people, their high standard of taste, and their strong innate inclination
towards beauty — the results were not what they might have been
under other circumstances.

The moment the people began to assume a semblance of tran-
quillity, as was the case, for instance, at the end of the seventeenth
century, the inexhaustible fountain of national art was sure to mani-
fest itself immediately and with vigour. The artistic tendencies
would penetrate everywhere, they would embrace all the different
sides of the national life, finding ample possibilities of application
and realisation.

The struggle for independence, and the ill success of the
Ukrainian people in that struggle, produced terrible conditions of
life, conditions which restricted the free exercise of their indi-
viduality, ruined their national self-consciousness, and resulted in the
sud.den decrease and final atrophy of the energy of this naturally
joyous and lively race. This process affected art as it did all other
sides of life, and its influence on it was certainly very strong and
of a highly negative kind.

The denationalisation of the upper classes ot the Ukrainian
community was one of the results of these vicissitudes, and it had an
independent and an enormously ruinous effect on Ukrainian art.
The sphere of application of this art narrowed, its means grew
poorer, and the number of persons of culture and wealth who gave
their talents and support to it ever decreased. The introduction of
serfdom widened the distance between the two classes, and the
process terminated, as far as art was concerned, in the almost com-
plete expulsion of Ukrainian art from the house of the landowner.
The cities, too, lost their national characteristics, and thus it was

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

only in places distant, one might say, from the vanities of modern
life, under the thatched roofs of peasant houses, that Ukrainian art
still found hospitality.

Hitherto but little attention has been given to the study of this
national art of the past, and the fact is the more regrettable when we
know that many valuable specimens, which could be found in great
numbers a short time ago, have now disappeared.

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LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

It is true, several works on Ukrainian ornament, especially on
embroidery, were published in the 'seventies (the works of M.
Volkov, Mmes. Kosacz and Litvinova). To the same time belongs
also the commencement of the work of collecting objects relating to
the life and art of the Ukrainian peasant, which was made by the
KiefF South Russian Branch of the Imperial Geographical Society.
But this branch was soon closed, and thus the end of the nineteenth
century has contributed practically nothing of importance to the
advancement of that study.

It was only at the beginning of the present century that the
real work of study of Ukrainian art commenced with the collecting
of specimens. The establishment of museums in several of the large
cities of the Ukraine (KiefF, Kharkov, Katerinoslav) coincided with

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

that period, and the revival of other museums (those of Poltava,
Tchernihov, Zhitomir, Kamenetz, Kherson) greatly helped the
work of the pioneers. At the present time there are already large
collections in existence. Still, they are not yet sufficiently compre-
hensive to give any clear and full idea of the Ukrainian peasant art
in all its branches ; this goal is not yet even in view. Every fresh
excursion into the country produces something so strikingly new
that it often opens up new fields of applied art ; sometimes it seems
as if the stock of articles in possession of the peasants was inex-
haustible.

Lately the peasant industries have been studied from the point of
purely practical considerations. The decline of the people's wealth
and the impoverishment of the peasant class have called forth certain
legislative measures, amongst which the endeavours to develop the
so-called " kustarny " industry should be mentioned, as it is an
artistic work and the only work that can compete with the factory
articles. Specimens of the old work have been taken as examples,
and artists have been invited to take part in this new movement,
and, by these means, the art is being permanently preserved ; a kind
of revival of the peasant art has thus to a certain extent been brought
about. An effort has been made to better the economic conditions
of the peasantry by encouraging the making of objects of art in the
peasants' homes — objects copied from old models.

The Ukrainian people are nearly all agriculturists, and the com-
paratively favourable conditions of soil and climate in the Ukraine did
not encourage the development of the " kustarny " or domestic
manufacturing industries for profit. The articles that the people
made were destined not for the market, but mostly for their own
use ; but with the decline of their economic conditions the peasants
began to work not only for themselves, but also for a limited
circle of customers. Some " zemstvos " began to assist peasants,
especially the " zemstvos " of Poltava, of Tchernigoff, and quite lately
that of KiefF. This help manifested itself in the establishing
of special schools, in sending instructors, in supplying peasants with
the raw material, in organising warehouses, publishing albums illus-
trating the old specimens of national art, and so on. But so far, on
account of the comparative costliness of the " kustarny " articles,
they find only a limited number of purchasers. It is mostly the
wealthy classes who can understand and appreciate their peculiar
beauty, and the peasants themselves cannot have them at their own
disposal.

As is the case with every people, the Ukrainians expressed
their leaning towards beauty first of all in the adornment of their

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

own personal appearance, then in embellishing their houses
and their appurtenances. At first the artistic impulse manifested
itself in the design of the dress, and in the arrangement of its
different colours and of the stuffs composing it ; then in the adorn-
ment of the head, and lastly in ornaments in the narrower sense of
that word.

In spite of the rapid replacement of hand-made cloth by im-
ported factory-produced material, the Ukrainians' national dress is
still habitually worn in many places, and we are in a position to
judge of this beautiful apparel. As everywhere else, so in the
Ukraine the greatest attention has been given to the holiday wear,
and especially to that of women. In some parts of the Ukraine (for
instance, in the small northern strip of the country) the national dress
is marked by rather excessive vividness of colour, and even by a
crudeness in the relative arrangement ; but the characteristic dress
of the centre of the country and of the south is marked by a quiet
harmony, which sometimes, as in the province of Poltava, is repre-
sented by a combination of dark colours, relieved only by the un-
covered white sleeves and the hem of the white shirt. These parts
of the shirt and — especially in the case of men — the front of it
are usually ornamented by embroidery.

In the north of the Ukraine the most primitive embroidery
prevails. It is marked by a geometric design, and it reminds one
strongly of the White Russian and even Finnish embroidery ; its
colour is almost exclusively red. In the central part of the Ukraine,
where the individuality of the people has developed more fully than
anywhere else, the embroidery varies. The most typical of the
central Ukrainian embroidery are the so-called " merezhki " and
" vyrizuvania," which are completely devoid of coloured threads, or a
combination of this " lace " embroidery and the ordinary embroidery,
or, lastly, the ordinary white embroidery. If coloured threads are
added in the latter, it is only done so very sparingly. In the south
and south-west the coloured embroidery is more in evidence than in
the central parts, but it is also characterised by its quiet and rather
dark colours. The designs of embroidery, although preserving in
the central Ukraine as in the south the geometrical base, by pro-
cesses of development have been extended to the inclusion of the floral
motifs conventionalised and adapted to the material (linen). It is
worth noting that the leaning towards floral forms permeates the
whole of Ukrainian ornamentation, while the Muscovite embroidery
is overwhelmingly geometrical and includes elements from the animal
world and even the architectural.

In some parts of central, and more frequently in the north of

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Ukraine, one still finds the " plahta," a peculiar kind of skirt made
of thick woollen or even silk stuff, which reminds one of the Scotch
kilt ; but the designs, though in squares, are more elaborate, and the
colouring somewhat more varied. Some thirty years ago these
articles were worn all over the Ukraine. Young women donned
bright " plahti " of light colours, the elderly women dark ones.
Among the old " plahti " very beautiful specimens can sometimes be
found. The material of which they are made is hand-woven, and the
yarn spun and dyed by the peasants. The garment is made of two
lengths of material, stitched together edge to edge half-way. The
stitching is done in coloured wools or silks and forms an ornamental
border. The material is then folded across, so that the unstitched
edges, lying over the stitched part, expose the pattern. The
" plahta " is then wrapped round the body to form a double skirt
without gathering the stitched edges at the back, while in front the
skirt is open, so producing the necessary " spring," and this is covered
by a plain piece of stuff forming a kind of apron. The apron itself
is often made of a hand-woven stuff; it is sometimes ornamented by
a geometrical design (as in the north), either embroidered, or, as is
the case mostly now, simply printed. The " plahta " and apron are
fastened to the waist by a girdle — a mere narrow, coloured strip
(" kraika ") in Northern Ukraine, and a wide sash of plaited
red wool in Central Ukraine.

The men's dress is simpler. It consists usually of a white shirt
with wide sleeves, ornamented with embroidery round the collar, down
the breast, and round the cuffs, and of wide, white linen trousers,
The overcoat — men's and women's alike — is called the " svyta," and
is made of a home-spun cloth of different shades — white, grey, and
brown. In the olden times the most popular colour was white. The
" svyta " is made tight at the waist ; it is usually trimmed with
coloured strips and cords, and it is sometimes embroidered on the
lower part and also at the back. Such may be seen in Volhynia.

The men's footwear consists of long top-boots, while the women
use the " tchereviki," a kind of shoe, though they wear long boots as
well. These are made of coloured leather, green and red ; the red
boots are still very popular everywhere in the Ukraine. The
coloured footwear was used in earlier days not only by women
but also by men, but now this fashion has gone out altogether
for men. In the most northern parts of the Ukraine the "lapti" or
plaited bark shoes are worn sometimes ; they are universally used
in Great Russia.

Above we have described the Ukrainian dress at its simplest ;
in -reality it varies according to locality, and to the degree of the

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

wealth of those who wear it. The change of time has had its strong
influence on the peasant dress, and the fashions are followed in the
village not less strictly than in the city. Thus, for example, a new
women's dress has been evolved, called the " corsetka " — a kind of
long sleeveless jacket made of a manufactured cloth ; it is quite
common in the Ukraine, but it began to change lately according to
the town fashions. A typical coat for men is represented by the
"zhupan," a tight-fitting long summer-coat ; now the town waistcoats
and ordinary town jackets have become fashionable.

The local tastes and influences of fashion are especially notice-
able in the head-gear. Although as regards men it is fairly
monotonous, consisting ot a fur or woollen cap ("shapka"), and in
the summer of a straw hat ("bril"), or of a wide-spreading
" cachquette," the women's head-dress is marked by com-
plexity and variety. A typical Ukrainian girl, whose hair is
usually braided in two plaits coiled round her head, adorns it
with wreaths of fresh or artificial flowers, and an abundance of
brightly coloured long ribbons hang from her head down her
back. Especially picturesque is the head-dress of a bride. A
married woman, according to a uniform custom strictly observed
in the whole of the Ukraine, must cover her hair ; for this purpose
she wears a special sort of cap with a stiff frame, made of coloured
linen adorned with embroidery, brocade, or, in the old days, even of
cloth-of-gold. These caps are of different shapes — round, square, or
cylinder form (" otchipok") ; round them a long transparent veil is
wound (" namitka "). The " namitka " itself was usually woven at
home of home-spun fine threads, or from home-spun silk ; the ends
of this veil hung loosely down the back. At present the " namitka "
is seldom to be met with, but the " otchipok " is usually draped in a
sort of machine-made coloured kerchief.

Great care is given to the adornment of the neck and breast.
For this purpose long rows of glass and coral beads are worn by the
women ; the gold or silver coins, crucifixes and medallions, are
hung from them in the centre ("ducatch"). In olden times the
production of these metal ornaments, as well as of earrings, rings,
clasps, &c., constituted one of the home industries of the Ukraine.
Gradually, however, the factory has almost completely ruined it,
and now even the very custom of wearing these metal adornments
is dying out, and it is only in the Carpathians, amongst the so-called
" Hutsuls," that the custom is still fully preserved. They wear them
extensively, and the production of these ornaments is widespread
among them.

In the winter a warm white sheepskin coat, called " cozhuh,"

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is worn, sometimes covered with cloth. From the point of view of
applied art, the ornaments made of coloured leather which are worn
on the " cozhuh " are worth mentioning. These ornaments adorn
the skirts of the coat ; the designs are old, traditional, and evolved
specially for this purpose ; these leather ornaments are sometimes
replaced by an embroidery made of coloured wool. Sometimes
such embroidery adorns not only the skirts of the coat but also
the back.

It is impossible here to give a full description of all the details
of the Ukrainian national dress. All that can be attempted is to
give a general idea. The essential characteristics of the dress are its
elegance, its freedom from exaggeration, and the details of its orna-
ment. The more primitive features are to be found in its traditional
cut, and in the arrangement of the colours of the costumes belonging
to the north and the north-west ; while in Central Ukraine, where
the life of the people has found its fullest development, we meet
with a dress that, in spite of its simplicity, would satisfy the highest
and most refined requirements of taste.

The climate, the natural surroundings, and also, of course, the
character of the Ukrainian people, have had their effect upon the
evolution of the house, yard, and relative arrangement of various
buildings, the plan of the house, its adornment, and the general
aspect of the village as a whole. The Ukrainian village is of an
entirely different type from that of the Muscovite ; whereas in the
latter case the houses are grouped together, lined in rows, and over-
look the street, the houses of the Ukrainian villages are hidden in
the orchards, strewn about without any definite plan or arrangement,
and the whole village is composed of a number of picturesque
"corners" ("coot"). An abundance of verdure, the inevitable
attachment to every house of even a small orchard, for which the
Ukraine is so famous, a mass of flowers, due to the fact that the
Ukrainian villages are usually situated on the banks of a lake or a
river, all this gives to the Ukrainian village an especially attractive
and picturesque appearance. It is true that lately, thanks to the
growth of population, the former homeliness and attractiveness of the
Ukrainian village have begun to disappear, and the yards are being
divided into portions and used for building purposes ; still, the general
character of the Ukrainian village is preserved.

In the north and north-west the grouping of the houses resembles
rather more that of the Muscovite villages, and so do also the inner
arrangement of the yard and the relative positions of the various
buildings. In the north, in the forest parts of the Ukraine, the
house and household buildings are more closely connected, and are

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often joined under the same roof, sometimes enclosing a quadrangle,
also roofed over, which is entered by a single gate. Quite a different
arrangement prevails in the centre and south. Here the yard occu-
pies a much larger space, and the house and domestic buildings stand
separately. In the case of the more well-to-do families, even the
" comora " (a dark room where all sorts of provisions are kept)
stands apart ; other buildings of the household are the " povitka," a
shed for the cows, sheep, carts, and field implements ; the " sazh,"
or pigsty ; and, lastly, the " clunya," the place where grain is stored.
The " clunya " is detached even in Northern Ukraine. It is very
often situated quite far from the house, on the outskirts of the
village.

The Ukrainian house (" khata ") has undoubtedly passed through
several stages of development before it reached its present state. It
has been gradually evolved out of an earthen hut. As a relic of
ancient times in the northernmost region of the Ukraine, the so-
called "smoking khati " can be seen, devoid of chimneys, with the
smoke issuing through a hole in the wall. But in the rest of the
Ukraine, especially in the most advanced central and southern parts,
the peasant-house has long since become a comfortable living-place,
attractive without and clean and tidy within.

The Ukrainian " kbata " is, as a rule, built of wood. In the
north a thick wood is used, in the south it is of a medium size. In
the south " khati " are also to be found with walls made of
plaited reeds, and covered with a thick layer of clay. Sometimes
the whole substance of the wall is composed of clay, without any
reeds or wood. A distinguishing feature of a Ukrainian "khata,"
from whatever material it may be built, is that it is invariably white-
washed. In those cases when the necessary white clay or chalk is
not to be found on the spot, they are brought from other districts.
The roof is thatched and has four slopes, with wide overhanging
eaves in front. To the entrance, always placed in the centre of the
front wall, is often added a porch (" ganok "). Sometimes, especially
in the older houses, at one end of the " khata" is an open veranda
("piddasheh").

The white glittering walls of the "khati," their brown thatched
roofs immersed in the background of rich verdure of all possible
shades, all flooded with abundant rays of the Ukrainian sun, make
the appearance of the Ukrainian village extremely beautiful. The
gently outlined landscape, which is so characteristic of the Ukraine,
is here accentuated by the fine sense of beauty of the people, who
are permeated by the influences of their beautiful surroundings.

The " khati " and all other household buildings of the Ukrainian

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

peasant, except the " clunya," are lacking in height. The reason ot
it is to be found in some practical considerations : the low building
is more easily kept warm and not so difficult to clean and repair.
When these considerations are immaterial we observe an opposite
characteristic. Thus in the architecture of the churches, which in
the Ukraine had developed a highly national and quaint style, the great
height of the building had become a prominent feature. This
principle manifests itself in the wooden as in the stone-built
churches, but it found a more obvious way of expressing itself in
the churches built of wood ; therefore it is these churches that we
must take as the most typical. The height and the spaciousness
were suggested by means of a gradually narrowing frame. This was
the arrangement within. Without, with a view to giving an
artistically architectural appearance to the building, the whole body
of it was cut by a series of narrow cornices, covered with a roofing,
into several quasi stories that were terminated by a dome. The
building, having a quadrilateral base, with its corners often cut
off, represented a mono-domed church. Three such buildings put
together in a row, with corresponding alterations in their pro-
portions, formed a tri-domed church. This is the most usual type of
church in the Ukraine. The addition of a single other such unit on
each side made it into a five-domed church, which is also fairly
common, especially in the more flourishing villages. Very seldom
to be met with is the further development of the same type — the
nine-domed building.

This type of church is common (with slight alterations) to
both Russian and Austrian parts of the Ukraine. Here it had its
origin, and it represents an original and independent product of the
creative art of the Ukrainian people ; the only analogy to this style
of wooden architecture is to be found in the picturesque wooden
churches of the Scandinavian countries. The building of these
churches is now a thing of the past. The few surviving examples
are doomed. What is erected now, what has been built for the last
fifty or sixty years, has nothing in common with this old style.
The new churches in Ukraine are built in the quasi-Muscovite
style, striking for its want of taste, and absolutely disconnected with
local tradition.

As to the adornment of the house, here, as in every other sphere,
the same care manifests itself, the same absence of the superfluous,
the same restraint. By terracing the four slopes of the roof an
element of variety is brought into the otherwise plain surface of
the ceiling. The quiet whiteness of the walls is accentuated by the
coloured panelling along the skirting and round the doors and

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

windows. Some of the older " khati " have a cornice corresponding to
the eaves. The cornice is of wood adorned with carving. The carving
on the window frames and the crude colouring of the shutters that is
to be met with now, are of recent origin and have been brought to
the Ukraine by foreign, mostly Muscovite, carpenters.

A typical Ukrainian " khata " is divided into two parts by a
hall placed in the centre. One part serves for dwelling purposes,
the other is called the " comora " and is used as a storing place for
provisions, clothes, &c. This latter part is usually left without
ornament ; very often it is not even whitewashed. But in the hall,
over the frame of the door leading into the dwelling part of the
" khata," one very often finds some embellishment. This is as a rule
a painted design of a widely spread type, executed in water-colours.
It usually represents some conventional floral form and is laid on
with a firm, confident hand. Such designs adorn panels, ovens, and
walls ; sometimes even the outer walls are covered with them. The
white of the walls, kept in a state of permanent cleanliness by the
care of the Ukrainian women, furnishes an excellent background for
this painting. The colours mostly used are brown, red, and blue.
It is worth noting that the wall-painting in the interior of the
" khata " is placed on the cleanest part of it, the so-called " pocootyeh,"
that is, the corner facing the entrance door, where the holy pictures
are placed and the large table is situated. The rest of the " khata "
is honoured with far less adornment.

This wall-painting has lately been replaced in many districts by
ornaments cut out of coloured paper, or even by pieces of wall-paper,
which latter practice is of course no furtherance of the original
custom. As an exception, in some localities of the Ukraine old
" khati " are to be found, belonging to some well-to-do Cossack
families, where the wall-adornment is of a different character : here
the walls are not whitewashed, but covered with smoothly polished
boards, which in the " pocootyeh " are painted with oil-colour. The
design consists usually of flowers.

The art of painting, hitherto so widely spread, is now dying out.
It has been a naive art and a peculiar one, which has been closely
connected with all the other branches of peasant craft. Speci-
mens of oil-painting are to be met with most often on coffers
(" scryni "), where the most valued belongings of a person are pre-
served. When a girl gets married she is supplied with a " scrynia "
by her parents. The same kind or painting often adorns cupboards
and shelves (" mysnykis "), wooden plates and long jugs, also the ledges
on which the holy pictures stand, and, lastly, the " svolok " or central
beam supporting the ceiling.

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

In some parts of the Ukraine specimens of a higher class of
painting are still to be found. Amongst them the religious pictures
and family subjects are worthy of notice. A picture of " Cossack
Mama'i," that personification of a free-loving and daring spirit, is
especially popular.

The majority of the articles mentioned, all these " scryni,"
" mysnykis," &c., besides the painted ornament they bear, are also
mostly adorned with carved designs. The art of wood-carving,
however, is not equally developed in all parts of the Ukraine, but is
at its highest along the middle course of the Dnieper. Carving is
usually to be found on plates, jugs, cake-moulds, boxes, spoons,
sticks, &c. It is usual also to carve the backs of sledges, carts, and
yokes. A very remarkable carving, of very ancient origin, is to be
met with on some of the windmills, beehives, &c.

The leading characteristics of the designs in the Ukrainian
wood-carving are common to those found in the west of Europe.
As in all other branches of peasant art, so in this particular one, we
see the Ukrainian people treating the common European subject in
its own peculiar way. The designs of the carved ornaments are mostly
geometrical with the popular rosework. But the leaning towards
floral motifs, in spite of the difficulties that the execution of them
with the primitive tools presents, sometimes manifests itself even
here, although in a naive form. Sometimes the two means of orna-
mentation, painting and carving, are united, but very few of the older
specimens of that kind are preserved, while the new ones are of little
artistic value.

In a country of rigorous winters like the Ukraine the stove
naturally plays a very important part in the " khata." It is now a large
construction, gradually evolved by many stages out of the original
hole in the earth, and like other productions of the Ukrainian
peasant, it has in its evolution followed the lines of beauty ; so that in
its present form, with its rich panelling, its niches, its shelves, and
the harmonious grouping of its parts, it presents a construction
satisfactory from the architectural point of view.

The stove is usually built of ordinary clay or of brick, but when
used for warming purposes and not for cooking it is generally made
of tiles. At the present time these stoves, as separate constructions,
are seldom met with in the peasant houses, though some time ago
the manufacture of the tiles was widely spread. The tiles were
sometimes made of fired clay, unglazed, and ornamented with low
relief forms (plants, birds, human figures, and also many different
combinations of geometrical ornament similar to that used in carving) ;
some were covered with glazes of various colours ; and lastly, there

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were those with a smooth surface, ornamented with designs in
enamel, designs identical with those found on plates, jugs, &c.
Thanks to the richness and variety of clays to be found in the
Ukraine, suitable for the purposes of ceramic art (even the fine china
clay abounds in some parts), the art of the potter has been carried on
since early times.

The present-day Ukrainian pottery is interesting in many ways.
It is partly so because many survivals of the past are preserved in
it, and also because it possesses a variety of original shapes and
ornaments. In response to different requirements of the peasant
household various articles of pottery were evolved : those for
cooking, those for the table, for preserving milk, keeping drinks, &c.
There is an extremely ancient kind of bottle for fermented drinks
made in the forms of animals. With the variety of shapes
corresponds the variety of painted ornament, and different localities
produce different designs, although all met with in the Ukraine are
undoubtedly based on the same main ideas. The methods of painting
are of ancient origin. It is done with the help of a horn or funnel
from which issues a thick colouring. The ornament found on the
pottery, thanks to the freedom which is allowed here to the artisan,
is often very complicated. There are plain designs consisting of
small curly lines, scrolls, or parallel lines, and there are also com-
binations of curves, sprays of roughly conventional flowers. In
some localities where pottery is an old industry, art has gone even
farther. Pictures of plants and flowers, birds, fishes, and human
figures are painted on the pottery, and some of these show a high
development of skill and much taste. Yet most of the artists are
illiterate.

A special branch of the ceramic art is represented by the toys,
and this also is of ancient origin. The most popular toys are those
representing various animals, fantastic human dolls, horsemen, &c.
Each of these toys is fitted with a whistle, and hence the toys are
called " whistles " (" svystuni").

Considerably less than the earthenware, is spread amongst the
peasants of the Ukraine the glassware. In the " khata " of the
peasant it is rare even now ; it was much rarer before, except in the
houses of the well-to-do Cossacks and townsfolk. Glass that can be
found now in the villages is of factory origin and has nothing
interesting about it. In times past there were a great number of
small glass factories in the Ukraine, but they are mostly extinct now
in consequence of the development of industry. These small glass
factories, " hooti " as they were called, used to manufacture, by
means of highly primitive methods without use of models of any

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

kind, various glass articles founded on old originals, and thus pre-
serving the old tradition as to the forms which were beautiful in
their nai've simplicity. A great variety of bottles in the shape of
animals and different objects were produced in these " hooti." They
were intended for expensive drinks and were used on great occasions,
festivals, &c.

Articles made of metal, notably those of copper, were even rarer
in the Ukraine than was the glassware. But the few examples
that are still to be found testify to the fact that in the olden times
this class of article was much more numerous than it is now, and
some of the specimens possess great beauty of shape and ornamenta-
tion. In most cases the copper article was made to serve as a bottle
for various drinks, for the old Ukraine was famous for the variety and
excellence of its drinks. In our time the things made of copper are
to be met almost exclusively as water jugs, or big kettles ("kazani"),
serving the purposes of preparing mead on occasions of the festival
of the patron of the local church.

In the eighteenth century and before, tin articles, mostly ot
Western European origin, were largely used in the Ukraine. But
they were seldom to be met with in peasant houses, as seldom, in fact,
as were silver articles, of which only a wine-glass may still be found
in the more well-to-do Cossack houses, as a relic of the past.

The articles and ornaments made of iron were not represented
in the Ukraine by such a variety of shapes and skilled perfection as
they were in the west of Europe ; but still some of them, as, for
instance, door-hinges or the iron ornaments of the wooden coffers, the
locks, and especially the crosses crowning the domes of the churches,
supplied a whole series of local forms which grew up independently
in the Ukraine. At the present time they are dying out, and are
being replaced by new ones which have nothing in common with
the local art, or indeed with any art whatsoever.

One custom may be still noted as universal ; this is the orna-
menting of the chief corner of the room in the "khata" by long
embroidered or plaited towels. Though the ornamentation of
these towels is not complicated, it is met with in a fairly great
variety, from the coloured stripe at the ends to a design filling up
the greater part of the towel. The usual geometrical designs prevail
on the whole, but in some cases the conventional floral ornament
is to be found. Here, again, we see the tendency of the Ukrainian
peasant art towards this kind of ornament. This tendency has its
full play when the towel is ornamented by embroidery. In these
cases we meet almost exclusively the floral ornament, represented by
the two bouquets or blossoming plants placed at each end of the

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towel. Very often the plant is depicted growing from a pot. In
spite of these general characteristics of the embroidered ornament,
various localities of the Ukraine produce various specimens of the
work that differ as to the richness of their composing elements and
the skilfulness of their execution.

Besides these embroidered towels and shawls ("khustka")
bearing the same class of embroidery on them, the old Ukrainian life
gave us also some other now very rare samples of this kind of
work. It is necessary to mention here the embroidery executed in
silk of various colours, and gold or silver, that which served for the
purposes of ornamenting cushions, blankets, and especially the robes
of the priests. The examples of this work belonging to the eighteenth
century, of which we possess already large collections in the various
Ukrainian museums, enable us to speak of a separate style which
consists of an adaptation of the borrowed elements — mostly floral—
and that reaches, from the artistic point of view, a high level. It is
natural in these circumstances that all "kustarny" work in the
Ukraine should be but an imitation of the embroidery work of the
eighteenth century.

Poor as may be a "khata," it is a general rule that opposite
the entrance-door you will find a table, or a big coffer (" scrynia ")
serving as the table. This table, or the "scrynia," is, as a rule,
covered with a white table-cloth, and the loaf of dark bread, with
the knife at its side, is placed in the centre of it. The loaf is the
symbol of hospitality — one of the characteristic features of the
Ukrainians. The table-cloth covering the table is of the same
general type as are the towels ; it is embroidered all over, or, as is
often the case, it has an embroidered border. In the central districts
of the Ukraine it is customary to cover the table, not with the white
linen cloth of the above-described type, but with a woollen rug.
The same kind of rug is used for covering the beds ("pil"), and
in the south it is used for covering the benches that run along the
walls of the room. The making of these rugs was a very ancient and
extensive industry of the Ukraine, but it is dying out now, and is
supported chiefly by artificial means. As is clearly seen from the
very name of the rug, which is in Ukrainian " kylym " (carpet),
the industry has been introduced from the East. Thanks to the
fact that wool has always been very abundant in the Ukraine,
where sheep-breeding flourishes, the making of rugs has naturally
become one of the staple industries of the country, and the carpets
are a necessary part of the comfort of the peasant home. The
characteristic feature of these carpets, when they were introduced
from the East, was their geometric ornament, and they still retain

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it, especially in South Ukraine. But the creative instinct of the
peasant could not allow itself to be confined to geometric forms,
and we see a gradual change taking place in the direction of
the adoption of the floral motifs. As a result, we have a peculiar
type of carpet, which, so far as we are able to judge by the collected
specimens, strikes one with its extraordinary variety as regards its
design, and the richness and delicacy of its colouring. There is no
doubt that in more recent times, notably in the eighteenth
century, the Western European influences had an effect upon the
Ukrainian carpet work ; but it is certain as well that these latter
influences have been like the Oriental ones, adapted by the Ukrainians
to suit their own artistic tastes and requirements. The most popular
type of carpet, as regards the make, is the smooth one, Gobelin-
like ; the rough carpets are met with very seldom. As regards the
dyes used, they are invariably of the vegetable order, prepared from
the bark of the trees and different vegetables.

We would say a few words concerning various small articles that
are used for the purpose of ornamenting the dwelling-places. To
these belong the so-called " pavuki," very ingenious light figures
made of straw and dyed wool, and fastened to the ceiling of the room.
Sometimes these figures are ornamented with artificial flowers of home
make ; some kinds of flowers are employed also for ornamenting holy
pictures. Bunches of sweet-smelling grasses and flowers are used for
the same purpose. Sometimes a carved wooden pigeon, the symbol
of the Holy Spirit, is placed in front of the holy pictures. Here also
are suspended the ornamental Easter eggs (" pysanka "). The making
of these eggs at Easter-time is a universal custom in the Ukraine,
although the process of ornamenting them is rather a complicated
one. The designs, geometrical as well as floral, have long attracted
attention, and once more testify to the extraordinary giftedness and
artistic taste of the Ukrainian people. There is already a whole
literature in existence concerning Ukrainian " pysanki."

We are only able to touch superficially upon the vast field or
artistic relics that we have inherited from the Ukrainian people and
their artistic activity. The general conclusion, which we feel ourselves
justified in making now we have surveyed that field, is this : the
peasant art of the Ukraine is closely bound up with the peasant art
of the centre and north of Western Europe. We meet invariably
with a love of, and gravitation to, the floral forms of ornament. The
variety and perfection reached by the Ukrainian people in the appli-
cation of these forms give us the right to consider that bond more
close than, for instance, is the case with the Muscovite people, who
show in their peasant art a decisive preference for the geometric forms.

3°

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

The love of ornament and beauty that manifests itselr intensely
in every sphere of life, that permeates that life, is one of the charac-
teristic features of the Ukrainian people. The past life of this
people, that made for preservation and continuity of the moral
individuality of the masses, resulted in the creation of a national art
that reached in its manifestations the high levels of perfection. The
present conditions of life in the Ukraine have interrupted this
continuity, and have dulled the inborn artistic instinct of the
Ukrainian. This is an indisputable fact. As the result we see here,
as in other European countries, the general decline of the true
peasant art, and the substituting for it of factory-made ugliness.

(Translated by V. STEPANKOWSKY)

CUT PAPER DESIGN

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

322 PEASANT FAMILY FROM KIEFF, SOUTH UKRAINE

323 PREPARING THE HEMP IN KIEFF, SOUTH UKRAINE

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

324 HARVESTING IN VOLHYNIA, NORTH UKRAINE

325 GROUP OF PEASANTS FROM KIEFF, SOUTH UKRAINE

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

326 PEASANT GIRL CLEANING FISH

327 AN ALFRESCO MEAL IN KIEFF, SOUTH UKRAINE

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3/9 AND 380 INTERIOR OF THE VOLKSKUNST MUSEUM AT KIEFF

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381 INTERIOR OF THE VOLKSKUNST MUSEUM AT KIEFF

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

382 INTERIOR OF THE VOLKSKUNST MUSEUM AT KIEFF

383 INTERIOR OF THE VOLKSKUNST MUSEUM AT KIEFF

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

384 INTERIOR OF THE VOLKSKUNST MUSEUM ATIKIEFF

385 INTERIOR OF THE VOLKSKUNST MUSEUM AT POLTAVA

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

386 TO 389 IRON CHURCH-CROSSES (VIIIxH CENTURY)

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

390 TO 397 SILVER JEWELLERY

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

398 TO 403 GLASS JUGS, BOTTLES, AND TUMBLERS

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

404 TO 407 GLASS BOTTLES AND JUGS

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

408 GROUP OF GLASSWARE

LITTLE RUSSIA (HIE UKRAINE;

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409 GROUP OF POTTERY FROM POLTAVA

FROM A PAINTING BY 11ASII.K KRITCIIKVSKY

LITTLE RUSSIA (THE UKRAINE)

410 EARTHENWARE STOVE-TILES (XVIIlTH CENTURY)

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411 TO 416 EARTHENWARE PLATES

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435 AND 436 WOODEN SCOOPS

437 WOODEN SCOOP

438 WOODEN SPOON

439 CARVED WOODEN BOWL

441 WOODEN DISH

442 CARVED WOODEN COFFER

443 CARVED WOODEN JUG

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462 PORTION OF CARVED WOODEN CARRIAGE

463 WOODEN TABLE (XVIIITH CENTURY)

464 CARVED WOODEN SLEDGE

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472 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN KIEFF, SOUTH UKRAINE

473 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN SIEDLCE, NORTH-WEST UKRAINE

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477 CUT PAPER DESIGN

RUSSIAN POLAND

THE PEASANT ART OF RUSSIAN
POLAND. BY MARYAN WAWRZENIECKI.

THE archaeological remains obtained by excavation in the
lands that subsequently formed Poland. testify to the various
influences which were formerly predominant in these
regions. So far as the present state of scientific investiga-
tion permits, it is asserted that these influences came from
the north, the south, the east, and the west. It is to this day a
disputed question whether Slavs constituted the primitive inha-
bitants of these lands. The only definite historical fact is that the
so-called epoch of the " Burgwalltypus " (" vitrified forts ") is closely
associated with the Slavs. The Slavs of the pre-historic ages (as
T. Peisker has proved in his work, Die iilteren Beziehungen der Slaiven
zu Turkotartaren und Germanen und ihre sozialgeschichtliche Bedeutung,
inhabited these lands in dependence on their neighbours. In the
east they were oppressed by the Turko-Tartar tribes, in the west
and north by the Germans. The rise of the Slavonic states was
combined with an internal revolution, a popular movement aiming
at emancipation from foreign oppression. The masses of Slavs,
stirred to revolt, placed on the throne individuals from among
themselves. These individuals, thanks to hired mercenary retinues
(" Druzina " or " Comitatus"), gradually gained power and imposed
their will on their opponents.

Slowly kings appeared, and from the " retinue " of warriors
a nobility (" szlachta ") was evolved. The land began to be
apportioned by the king in possession to the most notable members
of his court. In consequence then of the settlement on the land
of these Slavonic inhabitants we get an outline of the first struggle
between the old and the new landowners. The history of the first
centuries of historical Poland, already a Christian country, contains
scanty but sufficient information as to peasant revolutions. They
have been represented by monkish chroniclers as reprehensible
attempts at a Pagan reaction : but they are associated too with a
protest against the social changes that tended towards the mediaeval
caste-system. Gradually the position of the nobility and the knights
became so strong and grew to such power that the Polish kings fell
into dependence on this Order, and in 1422 they published at
Czerwinsk a " Privilege " radically undermining the freedom of the
peasant class. The dependence of the peasant on his " lord "
became, as throughout all Europe, an accomplished fact, in a greater
or less degree according to the will or personal character of the
landlord ; and, despite the humanitarian edict of Kosciuszko (issued
on May 7, 1794, at Polaniec), despite the examples of self-denial and
</2 35

RUSSIAN POLAND

nobility set by those gentlemen who of their own free will released
the peasants on their estates from all burdens and " corvees," this
dependence continued more or less until the year 1864.

The " Congress Kingdom " of Poland, which produced the
peasant decorative art represented in our illustrations, comprises
the piece of land that was artificially carved out by the Congress ot
Vienna in 1815. It is a country without natural boundaries, the
eastern parts having the character of the Ruthenian country, the
west of Prussian Masovia, the south of the Vistula plain and
the Cracow district, and the north of the neighbouring Lithuanian
regions. This accessibility and accidental, purely political isola-
tion of the regions from whence our materials are derived, excludes
any fundamental originality in comparison with the neighbouring
Polish lands in Austria and Prussia. Together with the other lands
of ancient historical Poland, the regions of the Congress Kingdom
have passed through various changes and evolutions. As far back as
the remote Middle Ages German colonisation in the villages, and
more especially in the towns, brought hither foreign — i.e. German

—influences. Incessant wars, which covered almost the whole
history of mediaeval Poland, wars that were principally successful,
introduced among the local peasant population an immigratory
alien element composed of prisoners of war. This element included
Germans, Ruthenians, sometimes Turks and Tartars. The plundering
raids of Lithuanians and Jadzwings, Tartars and Hungarians also
produced a great admixture of nationalities. The maintenance of
bands and militia, often recruited from foreign sources (Hungarians,
Wallachs or Scotchmen), by the magnates of the castles, even by the
gentry, further increased the foreign element and introduced alien
dress and manners. In the age of Sigismund I a strong Italian
influence spread over the country. Even to-day the ornamental
embroidery on the peasant's coat is called " fior."

In more recent periods, when the Napoleonic wars took the
Polish peasants to Italy, Spain and Moscow, the returning soldiers
brought back with them to their homes impressions of the foreign
productions they had seen. But one is sensible of little of this alien
influence in the examples of the peasant art we have collected here.
And for this there are several reasons. In the first place, I may
draw attention to the principal characteristics, building materials

—wood and straw, the irregular concentration of homesteads with
their straw roofs in close contact, and hence frequent conflagrations,
resulting in the complete destruction of whole villages, with all the
houses and tools. The people, their life and customs, have only
lately attracted the attention of occasional investigators. We have

RUSSIAN POLAND

begun to make amateur collections of their traditions, folksongs and
dialects. Our ideas on the subject were such that if any one
reflected on popular art, as did Joseph Ignatius Kraszewski ("The
Art of the Slavs," Vilna, 1860), it was such a strange phenomenon
that it did not find an echo till the appearance in 1903 of Casimir
Moklowski's " Peasant Art." Gradually more scientific collectors
came forward, and of these the most prominent was Oscar Kolberg,
and later Sigismund Gloger and the learned Dr. Jan Karlowicz, who
finally instituted the scientific investigation of the Polish peasants.
And not till 1910 did the erudite Professor Stanislas Ciszewski
occupy the chair of Ethnography at the University of Lemberg
(Lwow). All these were the efforts of private, public-spirited
individuals, for we have no governmental assistance in this direction.
The Museum of Agriculture and Industry, to which we owe the
greater part of the collected material, is an institution maintained
purely by the joint efforts of private individuals. The " Society for
the Investigation of the Country " is also a private institution. And
this results in our being able to show only unequal and incomplete
material. Such a work is beyond the ability and means of private
persons. We must also continually take into consideration the
remarkable fact that the peasant has for nearly forty years regarded
the educated man with disfavour ; every kind of scientific inves-
tigation he considers as dangerous to himself. He nourishes a
superstitious prejudice towards actions that are incomprehensible to
his understanding. There are districts in Poland (e.g. Ojcow) where
the very word " book " creates a panic among the peasantry. Add
to this the great distances to railways and highroads, and the lack of
convenient centres for the investigator, and we get some idea of
the difficulties that have beset the scientist throughout the whole
Congress Kingdom of Poland.

The cottage and the dress, these contain all the achievements
of peasant ornamentation. The cottages are principally built of
wood and thatched with straw — in districts rich in timber built on
the " corner-post " or " zamek " (beams laid one on the other and
projecting at the corners) systems, in poorer districts on the cheaper
" rygiel " (" bolt ") method. In the contours of the peasant's cottage
are reflected the influences of styles that once predominated all over
Poland. The decorativeness of the cottage of the Polish peasant
lies in the beauty of the general outline, in the straw thatching, in
the painting of the outside walls, in the beautiful joining of the
corners, in the extension in profile beyond the corners of the beams
of the wall (the " rysie " of the cottages in Nieborow), and in the
lines of the wooden posts supporting the veranda or porch. If the

RUSSIAN POLAND

cottage is old, it time has laid her hand on it, then the picturesque-
ness is displayed in the harmony of the colouring, constituting
a beautiful, multi-coloured splash in the landscape. The beauty of
its interior lies in the " pajonki " (i.e. " spiders," designs made
of straw) and " wycinanki " (cut-out designs of coloured paper),
probably once associated with a superstitious belief in " bewitch-
ment " and the " evil eye," that has now disappeared in some
districts, but "in others still continues as a decorative motive. The
many-coloured chests, the woollen covers, the beautiful bed-covers, the
benches and tables, together with the cupboards, the dishes and salt-
cellars, and the basins for holy water by the door, these are all objects
adorned with a carved or painted design. But their claim to artistic
importance will always lie not in the form but in the decoration and
colour. The excellence of external form, the beauty of cardinal
lines do not constitute the aesthetic value of peasant productions.
The harmony and even the discordancy of colouring, these are the
true tokens of peasant art.

Completely identical are the characteristics that predominate
in the peasant costumes, which also bear the disappearing features of
styles that once held sway in Poland. In southern provinces, such
as Kielce, this dress, in its conformity to certain patterns (flowers on
the materials for corsets, shirts, shawls and aprons), has preserved all
the features of " barocco." Many hold the view that dress and its
ornaments were not always created by the peasantry itself (for instance,
the black crosses on the coats of the Miechow peasants recall the
dependence of these peasants on the monks of Miechow, priests of
the Holy Sepulchre, i.e. Crusaders). We may infer that in other
districts, too, the will of the lord of the manor left its mark here
also. This dress, poor enough in its general outlines, has often
beautiful details, such as applique-work, embroidery, and always
very pretty colouring. The dress is completed by a cap or hat,
a belt and boots. The caps have great variety and some external
beauty. The belts are often very richly adorned, and are always
interesting from their decorative motifs and colour schemes.

The women wear very gay costumes. The general lines of
female dress are less happy, for important changes were introduced
here by the influence of the clergy scenting in everything sin and
temptation. The colouring and beauty of the embroideries and the
designs constitute the leading characteristics and qualities of female
dress, which strikes one by its relatively slight adaptation to the
climatic conditions of the Kingdom of Poland. To-day radical
changes are beginning to take place in this direction.

With dress is closely associated weaving and embroidery.

RUSSIAN POLAND

Weaving has survived chiefly in the northern and western parts or
the country. The southerners have for sixty years ceased to produce
woven articles. The Lowicz, the Opoczynski districts, together
with Podlasie and the Kurpian country (i.e. the region of great
forests) are the chief strongholds of weaving. Here very ancient
motifs often appear, but we must confess that our people have
a childlike susceptibility and gladly adopt what they have seen
elsewhere and what has taken their fancy ; hence they sometimes
abandon their own traditional decorative designs and introduce
others which please by their modernity. With weaving are
connected such implements as the spindle, the distaff, the bobbin,
and, in some places, the spinning-wheel, often in their form and
ornamentation revealing very interesting traditions. Here we must
mention the weaver's frame, which still survives as a relic of remote
antiquity, and often contains its own peculiar decorative work
executed in wood. The very primitive batlet, used in con-
nection with the washing of woven tissues, is also a subject for
ornamentation.

Objects of every-day use, such as pokers for stirring the fire,
also the tinder-boxes forged by peasant smiths, all bear orna-
mental decoration, and their types justify us in assigning them to
the very early archaeological periods in the history of these lands.

The surroundings of the cottage, i.e. fences and railings, also
show a right conception of the beautiful. The posts of the fences
are sometimes carved into distinct shapes, while the larger stakes of
the railings are similarly treated. The enclosed fences in some
districts have designs not altogether lacking in traditional art and
charm.

By the highways, at the crossroads, stand so-called " figures,"
or roadside crosses. These figures in different parts of the
Congress Kingdom are of various dimensions and sometimes
possess an individuality of their own. In the southern districts they
are frequently quadrilateral posts, with niches for figures or small
pictures. On the top of such a post is placed the form of the
suffering Jesus, usually the work of some small town or village
carver. It is a typical example of peasant sculpture, where often
the chisel takes the place of the knife, and the technicalities of wood-
carving are transferred to stone. Wooden crosses are also found
supporting the outstretched figure of Christ. These are smaller
towards the south, taller in the north, and enormous in Lithuania.
Besides crosses and brick-supported posts the peasants are always
willing to pay for so-called "little chapels." Such chapels are
a survival of the " coffer " altars, common in the Gothic and

RUSSIAN POLAND

Renaissance times. The sides, or wings, were taken away, and
only the centre remained. A small gallery, a roof and a cross were
added, and we have ready a fetish to which the peasants attach
great importance and attribute wonderful powers. Here and there
beside the roads or before the village churches we come upon figures
of saints, fashioned by the chisel of some self-educated village artist.
These examples of sculpture, which Professor W. Luszczkiewicz has
classed as peasant art, in the imperfection of the proportions and
the hang of the drapery, recall the barbaric productions of Roman
art. I have never been able to feel any trace of Gothic traditions
in these figures. The great crosses of forged iron placed on the
wooden posts in the chapels, or on the posts of stone or brick, are
chiefly the handiwork of a peasant smith dwelling in the village.
In the work of these smiths we can generally find much art and
skill, and it is full of character.

A conception of beauty is revealed in the iron-work of the
carts, especially in the south of the country. The ends of the shafts,
the so-called " little dogs," and the foreparts of the cart called
" frontings," are covered by the smiths with iron-work which they
adorn with designs of the crescent, cross, wheel, and sometimes
eye (cf. "Ziemia," journal of the Society for the Investigation
of the Country, 1910—1911).

The locks of the cottage doors and of the coffers, together with
the padlocks and keys, are also beautiful in the form of a heart,
clover, or some other decoration, always interesting. Of this
branch of art, however, we have at present but small material
collected.

The fishing-tackle, although far from ornamental, has, however,
in the general outlines of its form much charm associated with its
utility. The harness, too, though greatly modernised, yet retains
sometimes marks of beauty.

We consider that popular ornamentation has been preserved in
its most typical and unaltered form in the customary ceremonial
survivals — i.e. in painted and decorated " Easter-eggs " with their
ornamental colouring (red, blue and white) and their designs
(svastika, small tree, spiral, wheel, triangle, cross) ; in the ceremonial
cakes (" placki ") or wedding cakes ("kolacze"), " korowaje,"
" osutki," " orzeszki " and " szczodraki," and various other kinds
of cakes ; in such symbolical objects of superstitious ritual as the
wand of the wedding "starosta" or "elder" (symbol of Phallus), the
wreaths and crowns of the wedding festivities and of the " harvest
home"; in the "gaiki" (celebrations connected with the change
of the seasons) or the solstice ; also in the cut paper designs and

RUSSIAN POLAND

" spiders " which we have already mentioned in connection with
the cottage interior.

In the above-mentioned objects, in our opinion, certain ancient
superstitious traditions have been preserved. The colouring and
artistic designs of the ceremonial "Easter eggs" — which, by the
way, are under the ban of the Church — intended to be divided and
eaten in the days connected with the worship of the " new sun,"
and the contents of which afford a symbol of fertility and fresh life
(the renewal of nature), seem to have as their purpose the protection
of all from the impure negative powers (enchantment) of these very
elements. The colours of the eggs and their decorative designs
were considered in distant ages as effectual means of neutralising
these powers.

Easter eggs thus decorated (i.e. protected or secured against evil)
often form gifts for friends or lovers (the village maidens give them
to the farmhands) accompanied by wishes for prosperity (vitality).
The same motifs, inherited from the superstitious faith of remote
antiquity, constitute the decoration of the "crowns" at the wedding
and the harvest home, also of the ceremonial wedding cakes.
Besides the usual decorative designs emphasising the actual
ceremony (the spiral, cross, wand), we find concealed in these
ornaments an ancient motif which is supposed to hallow those cakes
apportioned among all who partake in the ceremony. In the
category of ancient symbols we must include the wand of the
elders (" starosta ") of the wedding : these wands play an important
role and are indispensable to a marriage contract. The execution of
the work on these " wands " and " crowns," apart from tradition, is
a good criterion of the level of aesthetic feeling among the peasantry
of any given district.

In some of the popular superstitious ceremonies connected
with the solstice, such as the " gwiazda " (star), " gaik " (grove),
the " turon," the decorative instinct of the people also reveals itself.
The ribbons used in the decoration of some of the objects, although
at present largely displaced by factory-made articles, none the less
bear designs that satisfy the artistic tastes of the peasants.

In summarising the nature of all the materials we have been
able to collect, we must emphasise the fact that throughout the
whole region of the Congress Kingdom one continually feels the
connection of these lands, from the earliest times, with the great
home of culture of the peoples of Mid-Europe. It is the influence
of Western currents of thought, sometimes caricatured and adapted,
but distinctly felt at every step, that constitutes our separate position
in these lands. Here are but scanty relics of Lithuanian (Scandi-

RUSSIAN POLAND

navian) from the north and Little Russian influence from the east.
And the whole mass of our people is indissolubly bound up with the
mother of their civilisation — Western Europe. There is a complete
absence of Byzantine influence in the lands of the Congress
Kingdom.

Throughout our country, now but a remnant of the once
powerful Polish state, we are, as we have always been, the offspring
of Western civilisation. Such was the fate allotted to us. This
influence and connection, which we shall uphold with pride, is
confirmed alike by the art of our enlightened classes and by the art
of our common people, and we intend to maintain it in the future.

(Translated by A. B. Bos WELL)

CUT PAPER DESIGN

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478 PEASANT COSTUME FROM KIELCE

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481 GROUP OF PEASANT POTTERY

482 GROUP OF PEASANT POTTERY FROM WARSAW

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483 PAINTED CHEST FROM LOWICZ

484 TO 486 CARVED CHAIRS FROM KUJAVIA

CO
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489 MILL AT PJOTRKOW

490 ENTRANCE TO A HOUSE AT WOJKOWICE

491 ENTRANCE TO A HOUSE AT MODRZEJOW

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492 PEASANTS' HOUSES IN UR'ZEDOW

493 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN LOWICZ

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494 AND 495 PEASANTS' PAINTED HOUSES

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498 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN LOWICZ

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499 PEASANT'S HOUSE IN URZEDOW

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JOO INTERIOR OF A PEASANT'S HOUSE AT LOWICZ

5OI INTERIOR OF A PEASANT'S HOUSE AT LOWICZ

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508 TO 512 CUT PAPER DESIGNS FROM LOWICZ

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517 CUT PAPER DESIGN

LITHUANIA

THE PEASANT ART OF LITHUANIA.

BY MICHAEL BRENSZTEJN.

THE manifold influences to which Lithuania has been subjected
in the course of centuries sufficiently account for the
characteristic diversity of the basic elements in its peasant
art as a whole. This " Volkskunst " forms a conglomera-
tion of various ethnographic elements which frequently pre-
sent sharp contrasts. Beginning with an ornament that is reminiscent
of Roman bronzes, there are to be found in this peasant art, derived
from a common pre-Aryan source, more or less numerous traces of
Finnish, Scandinavian, Germanic, Oriental, Byzanto-Russian, West
Polish and other influences, some of which are still existent, while
others have already vanished. And since these manifold influences
have not operated for the same length of time and with the same
intensity in all parts ot the country, it has resulted that the peasant
art of each of these parts has acquired certain particular traits not
only in regard to form, but also in respect of technique and material.
On the other hand, however, the general character, physical and
mental, of the native inhabitants, has impressed a common stamp
upon the entire peasant art of the country, and in consequence, in
spite of racial affinities with other countries, the artistic productions
of Lithuania as a whole have acquired a distinct and independent
character, both as regards conception and a certain archaism and
primitivism of execution.

The artistic activity of the Lithuanians has in the main mani-
fested itself in three directions — in weaving, in the ornamentation of
their household utensils of wood, and in their so-called " chapel
crosses " or wayside shrines. Their architecture I will pass over, as
it does not present any specially characteristic traits, and as a whole
cannot, with the exception of a few carvings on roofs, balconies, and
window-frames, mostly adopted in recent times from neighbouring
peoples, be regarded as the actual creation of the Lithuanians, in this
respect offering a marked contrast to an architecture like that of the
Polish inhabitants of the Tatra mountains. (C/. " Peasant Art in
Austria and Hungary.")

In ornamental weaving the costumes of the women offered the
greatest scope for the activity of the peasant artist. It is, however,
very difficult at the present day to reconstruct the costume worn in
the earliest times, even with the aid of mediaeval records. If one may
judge from an apparently very ancient usage, which continued down
to the middle of the nineteenth century in the district of Poniewiesh
(Government of Kovno), and even now persists among the Letts of
Courland, the Lithuanian women wore long wide robes of wool or

LITHUANIA

linen which enveloped the entire figure, and were fastened at the
shoulder by a large round clasp of silvered metal, which was
embellished with a relief-like floral ornament. The so-called
" namitka " may be regarded as the sole rudimentary survival or
this garment. It is still worn by old peasant women in various
localities in the Kovno Government, and consists of long narrow
strips of white linen which are wound round head and neck, the ends
hanging loose on the back or shoulders. The Slavic origin of the
word " namitka," and the use of this article of apparel by the peasant
women of Volhynia and Podolia until the beginning of the nine-
teenth century, seem to confirm the legend which attributes the
introduction of this headgear into Lithuania to Jagiello, King of
Poland and Prince of Lithuania. According to this legend all
baptized Lithuanian women received from Jagiello one of these
white " namitkas," to distinguish them from those who remained
heathens.

Of particular richness and variety of colour was the costume
worn in the north of Lithuania— the district of Zmudz. The oldest
of the female costumes with which we are familiar at the beginning
of the nineteenth century consisted of the "namitka," a laced corset,
a skirt, a long dark-blue jacket or coat, and an apron with an
embroidered lower edge. At a later date the jacket or coat became
shorter, reaching to the knees only, and was pleated at the bottom
(Nos. 521 and 522), while for headgear a factory-made cloth took the
place of the " namitka." The coat, from the bust downwards more
and more closely pleated, became in time to be known in North
Lithuania as " simtakvaldis," i.e. " a hundred pleats." The corset,
made of patterned wool or silk material and often provided with
metal fastenings, was characteristically short in North Lithuania,
somewhat reminiscent of the faille of the Empire mode, which is
still to be met with in Sweden, but not elsewhere in Lithuania.
With the exception of the three silk cloths worn wound round the
head, which were of factory origin, the whole of the costume was a
product of domestic industry — the " hundred pleated " coat, the
pleated corset, the striped skirt woven of wool, the linen apron,
as well as the openwork collar of glass beads. Equally original was
the bridal dress worn at the same period in North Lithuania, which
differed from that worn in other parts of Lithuania, and was made
wholly of factory-made materials. The so-called " crown " formed a
distinctive part of this attire, and was made of coloured silk ribbons
manufactured in Prussia. In the district of Poniewiesh (Kovno) the
women until quite a short time ago wore broad bands made of gold
thread (" kaspininkai ") with lace edging and silk lining, which like-

LITHUANIA

wise were of German origin. These bands or galloons were wound
round the head and fastened at the back. The only relic of the early
costume that remains in North Lithuania is the partiality for crude
colours both in the home-woven woollen stuffs and in the fabrics
bought from traders. In place of the striped coats that used to be
worn, and which closely resembled the work of peasants in the
neighbourhood of Lowicz in Poland, Scotch checks have now come
into use, while the corset and the pleated jacket have gone out
altogether. Nor are these few survivals any longer met with in
other parts of Lithuania.

Only in recent days, when the national renaissance has been
proceeding with rapid strides, have the Lithuanian women begun to
wear a national costume on the occasion of important festivals — a
costume borrowed from the province of Suwalki. Owing to the
close relations which have subsisted for centuries between the
Lithuanian inhabitants of this district and the Polish Mazurs, this
costume strongly resembles that worn in the neighbourhood of
Cracow.

The costume of the men has fared even worse than that of the
women, and it fell into disuse before this. From analogy with the
costume worn by the Lettish men in Courland and according to
information given by aged inhabitants, it consisted of a long home-
woven woollen coat of a dark-blue or grey colour, resembling in cut
and fold the above described jacket of the women. At the present
time the men wear short coats of grey home-woven cloth, having the
cut of a town-made coat. Here and there in North Lithuania the
fur cap, at one time generally worn by the men, is still retained
under the name of " triause," i.e. three-eared — a form which points to
its having been adopted from the people of a country with a very
severe climate, probably from the Finns, whom the Lithuanians
once had for near neighbours, and a branch of whom now settled in
Lappland still wear a similar cap. The wooden shoes (" klumpie "),
still frequently met with in North Lithuania and often bearing carved
or painted ornamentation, are akin to those now in use in Sweden.
Besides these, shoes made of plaited leather are in general use.

On the southern and eastern boundaries of Lithuania woollen
girdles of a kind quite unknown in the north are extensively worn.
They are from two to ten centimetres wide and about three metres
long, and are ornamented at both ends with fringes ; they are hand-
woven and the patterns are very varied, some showing a close re-
semblance to the girdles worn in the adjacent parts of White Russia,
while others are similar to those found among the Laplanders.

While in the northern districts of Lithuania the home-woven

LITHUANIA

stuffs have only stripes or checks by way or ornament, in the south,
i.e. in the Government of Suwalki, ornamental motives derived from
the plant world are principally made use of, along with geometrical
patterns, as in the aprons and table-cloths ; and here the tulip motive
(" Tulpinis rastas "), wholly unknown in the north and extremely
rare in Central Lithuania, is very much in evidence. Curiously
enough the only other place where this motive is met with is Bosnia,
and there it is treated differently (cf. " Peasant Art in Austria and
Hungary," illustration No. 554), while its use is unknown amongst
Lithuania's neighbours.

The practice of using carved ornamentation for domestic utensils
is very general in the northern districts of Lithuania. A wealth of
such ornamental devices is displayed in the boards to which the
spindles are attached at the spinning-wheel. This implement is
derived from Sweden, where it is in common use and known as
" rockblad " ; thence has come its form, size and, to a large extent, its
ornament (cf. "Peasant Art in Sweden," Illus. Nos. 148-166;
also " Fataburen," 1909 No. i, Figs. 14-17).

Very original, and unknown elsewhere in Europe, is the long
wooden needle called " sveikele," used for fastening the wool or flax
to the board of the spinning-wheel (No. 538). It is cut out of a
single piece of wood, although it often has a few links at the end.
One cannot help marvelling at the patience bestowed on the making
of these implements ; sometimes a lad will spend several days in
making a single needle for presentation to his sweetheart with one

of the carved boards. Another imple-
ment which served the same purpose as
these boards was that which is here
figured — the so-called " Przasnica," an
appliance which doubtless originated in
very early times before the spinning-wheel
existed. The board AB is used as a
seat ; the flax E is attached at CD,
whence the fibres are wound on the
spindle F. The board CD
usually has carved ornamen-
tation on it, and one example
which hails from the govern-
ment of Kovno, and belongs
to the year 1774, bears a striking likeness in motive and technique
to similar implements from the district of Lida in the Vilna Govern-
ment, where the Lithuanians have mingled with the White Russians
and borrowed their ornamentation.
5°

LITHUANIA

Similar decoration is found on the " kultuves," a kind of stick
or beetle used in laundry operations, as well as on the " abrusienicze,"
or towel-rails (No. 536), and other articles. These objects are often
painted in divers colours.

From their long and intimate relations with the Finns, the
Lithuanians derived a stringed instrument, now coming into use
again after being long discarded — an old Finnish instrument some-
what akin to the zither, and called in Lithuanian " kanles " (No. 546),
a variation of " kantele," the name by which the instrument is
mentioned in the Kalevala.

The favourite colours of the people of North Lithuania, to
iudge by their preferences in both home-woven and purchased stuffs
and the pigments used for their household implements, are red,
green, and yellow ; in the south, besides these, blue and violet are
in vogue, But red is dominant everywhere. A North Lithuanian
proverb says, "What is red is beautiful,"* and up till the middle of
the nineteenth century an entirely red costume was worn there, ot
which the writer possesses an example. In combining the crude
colours regard is always paid to the rules governing the comple-
mentary colours ; the vegetable dyes in use are prepared at home,
and the harmonies of tone achieved with them have resulted
naturally from long usage.

In recent times there has been an active revival of weaving as
a domestic industry, especially in the north, thanks to the support
given to the movement by the landed proprietors.

It remains for us to mention what are, perhaps, the worthiest
products of the artistic activity of the Lithuanians — namely, the
carved crosses and " chapels " which they are wont to set up outside
their homes, by the roadside, on the summits of hills, on the graves
of the dead, and in other places as memorials of their gratitude to
God or as marks of their sorrow. The country used to be full of
them, and they gave it a quite specific character, so that at one time
the line of demarcation of the cross-strewn territory practically
coincided with the ethnographic boundary of Lithuania. Nowhere
else in Europe, with the exception of a part of Hungary, are such
richly ornamented crosses erected. It is hardly possible to group
them into definite types. In every diocese, and even in every village,
the crosses show differences of proportions, form, ornament, colour,
and iconography. In regard to form, as well as ornament, individual
freedom has had full play. The ornamental motives are very varied,
and the plant-world has been largely drawn upon. All styles are

* It is the same with the Russians. In Russian krasny means both red and
beautiful. Trans.

LITHUANIA

represented among them, derived probably from the churches in the
vicinity. Particularly noteworthy are the iron ornaments which
usually crown the roofs or canopies of such " chapel crosses." Simple
as they are, and mostly made by illiterate village smiths, they often
possess a certain nobility of line and display a wealth of fantasy. The
carved wooden figures of saints which form part of these memorials
naturally follow as closely as possible the recognised iconography of
the Church, and differ from similar productions in other countries
only in their primitive technique. This branch of Lithuanian peasant
art received its death-blow about half a century ago, when an interdict
was issued (1864) against the erection of such crosses in other places
than cemeteries, and the revocation of the interdict in 1896 has had
very little effect in reviving it. The number of " chapel-crosses " is
diminishing year by year, and their place is being taken more and
more by smooth commonplace wooden crosses which are destitute
of decorative features.

We come at length to the following final result of our investi-
gation. The older peasant art of Lithuania, and particularly that of
its northern parts, is predominantly akin to the Finnish, and to some
extent to the Scandinavian ; while, in its later forms, it shows more
affinity to Slav types. The neighbourly relations which subsisted
for so many years between the Lithuanians and the Finns have given
to them a common stock of folk-songs and a whole series of similar
phrases. Which of the two races has borrowed from the other, and
how much, cannot at present be determined, for the history of their
association has so far been very little investigated, and such linguistic
studies as bear upon the question have not got beyond the pre-
liminary stage. Light on this problem will only come when the
nomenclature of the various ornamental motives and domestic
appliances in Lithuanian and Finnish has been subjected to
thorough analysis.

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Holme, Charles

Peasant art in Russia

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CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

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